The Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men has announced the host stages for this year's race. It's a true tour of the nation, taking riders all the way from the Scottish borders to the southern county of Suffolk over six stages.
There will be three new stage hosts for what is the 20th edition of the race, which is held from Tuesday September 3 to Sunday September 8.
The first stage begins and ends in the market square in the Borders town of Kelso, with riders finishing on a small circuit that should allow maximum spectating opportunity.
Stage two starts in Darlington – the first time the town has featured since 2009 – while the finish is not so far away on the coast at Redcar, with the riders tackling some of the National Championship circuit, Saltburn Bank included, along the way.
Moving south again but remaining in Yorkshire, the race starts stage three in Sheffield, which returns to the race for the first time since 2006. Organisers are promising a tough day in the hills is in store for the riders, with a finish in race debutant Barnsley at the end of it.
British Cycling is so far keeping details of stage four under wraps, but it has announced that the start and finish of stage five will be hosted by another town not used on the race before – Northampton.
The sixth and final stage sees Suffolk host, starting in another first-time host, Lowestoft, and finishing in Felixstowe, both on the coast – and the latter where Wout van Aert took a stage win last year on his way to overall victory.
The Tour of Britain has been through a tumultuous few months, with longtime organiser Sweetspot entering liquidation and British Cycling taking over the running of the event.
It has been reduced to six stages to allow BC to achieve parity with the new Tour of Britain Women.
Such issues were not, unsurprisingly, touched on in the stage announcement, with BC events managing director Jonathan Day saying: "We’re delighted to be bringing top-level racing and the joy of cycling to communities across the country in September, with six stages to showcase the very best of Britain’s character and terrain."
